Digital health technologies in pain management for patients with endometriosis: A scoping review

This scoping review aimed to map the evidence on how digital health technologies are used for pain management in endometriosis.

This scoping review adhered to the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological framework and followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and China Biomedical Literature Database were searched. The search timeframe was from the establishment of each of the databases to June 6, 2025. Studies focusing on patients aged 18 years and older with endometriosis, and examining the application and potential impact of digital health technologies in pain management, were included in the study. Collated in data-extraction tables were authorship information, publication date, country, study design, study population, sample size, application forms, content elements, intervention duration, and outcome indicators.

A total of 18 papers were included. Remote network platforms, mobile applications, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence are some of the application forms of digital health technologies. The content elements covered pain diagnosis, pain assessment and monitoring, pain intervention, and pain education, while the outcome indicators mainly included pain-related indicators, psychosocial indicators, and feasibility evaluation.

This scoping review systematically synthesizes the forms, core contents, and clinical outcomes of digital health technologies for managing endometriosis-related pain, suggesting their preliminary feasibility and potential benefits. Building on these findings, future research should focus on three priorities: refining objective assessment metrics, using these technologies to build more scientifically comprehensive personalized pain management plans, and implementing long-term studies to enhance intervention outcome optimization.